Refuse destruction system and furnace therefor



July 11, 196 YOICHIRO SASAKI REFUSE DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AND FURNACE THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 14, 1965 FIG. 7

July 11, 1967 YOICHIRO SASAKI 3,330,230

REFUSE DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AND FURNACE THEREFOR Filed June 14, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 11, 1967 YOICHIRO SASAKI REFUSE DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AND FURNACE THEREFOR 4 Sheets-$heet 5 Filed June 14, 1965 FIG. 5

FIG. 3

July 11, 1967 YOICHIRO SASAKI 3,330, 30

REFUSE DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AND FURNACE THEREFOR I Filed June 14, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent Ofi tice 3,330,230 Patented July 11, 1967 3,330,230 REFUSE DESTRUCTION SYSTEM AND FURVACE THEREFOR Yoichiro Sasaki, 565 Higashi-tsukahara, Ibaragi-ken, Nakaminato-shi, Japan Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,514 4 Claims. (Cl. 110-17) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A refuse destructor including a main furnace body provided with a fire hole and an ash hole below the fire hole, there being provided a plurality of rotatable pipes including projections spaced from each other within the main furnace body and arranged at angles with respect to each other. An ash raking spear is mounted on a carriage which supports the spear within the body in a position opposite the fire hole. A rotary ash-receiving member is mounted in the body below the fire hole. A secondary ash-receiving member is adjacent the ash hole and ash cleaning means is operatively associated with this secondary member. The main furnace body is provided with internal hemispherical recesses and a plurality of reburning flue chambers extend laterally from the main body to a smokebox. The chambers each include a plurality of rectangular flues provided with internal hemispherical recesses. A flue tube extends laterally from the smokebox and includes a re-combustor and passages arranged in lattice formation, as well as a flue composed of a multiplicity of cylindrical flue channels in which are located electric heating wires. A smokestack extends vertically from the flue tube.

This invention relates to refuse destructors, and more specifically to a refuse destructor capable of completely incinerating not only dry refuse but refuse mixed with a fairly large percentage of Watery garbage and rubbish as well.

The invention has as an object the provision of a refuse destructor which comprises a vertically cylindrical furnace body, provided with numerous hemispherical recesses over the inner walls thereof, in such a manner that heat of the flame which rises from the fire grate is intercepted by the hemispherical dents on the furnace walls and is reflected thereby, so that water-containing garbage and rubbish can be completely dried by the reflected light and hence burnt up with a great efficiency.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refuse destructor which can dry watery refuse gradually inside the furnace and allow it to drop gradually to the fire grate at the lower section of the furnace, in order to prevent the fire grate from being choked by a heavy burden of refuse thrown as a single batch into the furnace through the charging hole, and thus to enable the refuse to be burnt rapidly and in a continuous way.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refuse destructor which takes advantage of the combustion heat of the refuse in reburning the combustible gas or smoke.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refuse destructor which can lead the flame, combustible gas, or smoke selectively to different reburning flue chambers depending on the amount of refuse being incinerated or on the combustion conditions, and can make the most of the heat dissipation inside the furnace for reburning said combustible gas or smoke effectively so that the reburnt gas can be exhausted in a smokeless state.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refuse destructor equipped with a re-combustor in a long flue section communicating the main furnace body with the stack, for burning refuse stained or impregnated with chemical products or oils, thereby to make the reburning flue chambers red hot with the long flame originating from said inflammable refuse for more thorough re-combust-ion of the unburnt gas from the main furnace body and for discharging the burnt gas in a smokeless state.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refuse destructor which automatically crushes clinkers deposited on the fire grate and also inhibits formation of clinkers, thereby to enhance the combustion efiiciency.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refuse destructor whose inner walls along which smoke passes from the furnace to the stack are entirely formed of fire bricks having hemispherical recesses throughout, to intercept the heat developed by the furnace and dissipated thereby, for multiple reflection of the heat, whereby the purpose of reburning the combustible gas or smoke is attained all the more satisfactorily.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparent in the course of the following detailed description with reference to the appended drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a refuse destructor according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the main furnace body of the destructor;

PEG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the furnace body;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the flue section;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the flue section;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinally sectional front view of the reburning furnace section of the destructor;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the inside of the reburning flue chamber of the destructor; and

FIG. 8 is a similar enlarged perspective view of the inside of the flue.

Referring to FIG. 1, the destructor according to the invention comprises a generally cylindrical, vertical type furnace body 1, a plurality of reburning flue chambers 2 extending laterally of said body 1 and spaced from one another, a smokebox 3, a long flue 4 extending laterally from said smokebox, and an upwardly extending stack 5 communicated with said long flue.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 1 of the destructor has inner walls 8 of firebricks 7 which are provided with internal hemispherical dents or recesses 6. On top of the furnace body 1, a hole 9 is provided for throwing refuse thereinto, said hole being equipped with a freely openable lid 10 so that it can be closed while the charge is being incinerated. At the lower section of the body 1, a fire hole 11 and an ash hole or hole for cleaning 12 are provided. A rotating ash receiver 13 has a toothed portion formed on the underside of it, and is horizontally disposed between the two holes.

The ash receiver 13 is rotated continuously or intermittently by a pinion 15 which is driven through a transmission gear (not shown) disposed outside the furnace body, and thus forcibly drops the ash under the cumulative pressure of refuse, thereby to prevent formation of clink ers. Below the rotating ash receiver 13, a secondary ash receiver 16 is provided in such a manner that it can be swung open substantially in the center of the furnace body by a suitable driving means (not shown). While the ash is being forced down from said rotating ash receiver 13, the secondary receiver 16 is held horizontally to receive the ash, as indicated by full lines in FIG. 2,

thereby allowing unburnt matter, if any, to be thrown rod-like member having a sharpened point and mounted on a carriage 20. The carriage 20 is continuously or intermittently moved back and forth by a suitable driving means'21 under automatic or manual control. Accordingly, the ash spear 18 rakes the ash accumulated on the fire grate, with the result that ash dropping is promoted and clinker formation is prevented, both contributing much to enhancement of the incineration efliciency.

Inside the furnace body 1, a rotary refuse-receiving pipe 23 having projecting branch pipes or pipe-like fins 22 is rotatably supported by a pair of bearings 24, 25 on the outer periphery of the furnace, said pipe being connected at one end to a suitable rotary driving means 26 (FIG. 3). If the rotary refuse-receiving pipe 23 is not hollow but is instead a solid rod, it will be deformed and distorted downwardly by thehigh combustion heat of the furnace until it is fused through midway. It is therefore advisable to use a hollow pipe 27 adapted for passage of'water from one end to the other thereby to prevent the pipe from yielding to the heat. Since the cooling water led into the rotary ash-receiving pipe 23 is heated While passing therethrough, a kettle or water heating means will be formed if said pipe is communicated to a separate water tank to constitute a'circulatory system which takes advantage of the heat thus exchanged.

The rotary refuse-receiving pipe 23 may be doubled or multiplied in number, depending on the height and capacity of the furnace. In case a plurality of such pipes is employed, the pipes are preferably arranged crosswise,

. vertically spaced and held in different directions or at different angles relative to one another. (In the embodiment shown, four pipes are incorporated.) Within a building which houses the destructor, a refuse truck, e.g. a dump car (not shown) is stopped in the proximity of the refuse charging part 9, and the refuse is dumped into the furnace. The refuse is hampered from dropping directly onto the fire grate, but is received by the upper most rotary pipe 23, and is dropped by rotation of said uppermost pipe to subsequent pipes by steps. In this case, the flame of burning refuse rises from the fire grate to heat the furnace walls 8 red hot, and the hemispherical recesses 6 effect multiple reflection of the heat thereby to dry the refuse dropped in succession and to form suitable space in the furnace. Thus, refuse in a fairly dried state is supplied'to the burning refuse without putting any heavy burden on the latter, so that the charge is burnt continuously and efliciently. with no possibility of the fire grates.

being choked. The rotary refuse-receiving pipes not only serve to receive the refuse temporarily in order to give.

room for drying and to prevent stifling accumulation, but also serve to crush clinkers formed inside the furnace, by means of the projecting branch pipes or fins.

in a block-building fashion, and so forth. In such assembly, each flue 35 is surrounded by a large number of internal dents or recesses 33. On the portions of the reburning flue chambers 32 abutting on the smokebox 3, slots 36 (FIG. 2) are provided, into which flue dampers 37 are slidably inserted. In the case when the furnace is charged with a fairly large amount of refuse which is blazingly A on fire, the reburning flue chambers 2 other than the A boiler shell 28'of the same diameters as the furnace walls may be provided on the upper portion of the furnace body 1, and has at its bottom a supply pipe 29 for introducing water into the shell 28 and at its upper end a pipe or pipes 30 for discharging the water boiled in the shell 28. With such arrangements, a large amount of hot water can be obtained by taking advantage of the heat radiated by the furnace.

both faces. In assembling the firebricks 34 into the flues 35, it is advisable for example to lay the bricks first side by side in order to form a horizontal base layer, put other bricks, each on one side upon each seam of the base layer, and lay still other bricks over the bricks erected'sidewise, to form a second horizontal layer like the first layer, or

uppermost one are preferably closed with the dampers 37, while the uppermost chamber 2 is kept open with its damper 37 pulled up. By this regulation formula, the flame and combustible gas or smoke'inside the furnace is allowed to pass only through the uppermost flue chamber 2. 'Because the flues or passages 35 in said reburning flue chamber 2 are heated incandescently by the flame passing therethrough and the heat is reflected in complex manner by the recesses 33, the combustible gas or smoke is burnt again while passing through the multiplicity of the narrow, rectangular flues'35, and enters the smokebox 3 in a state substantially free from smoke.

As the refuse inside the furnace is burnt on gradually to a lower level, the uppermost damper is slid open and the second damper 37 is held open thereby to lead the flame and combustible gas or smoke through the second reburning flue chamber. With further progress of combus-' tion and a subsequent decline of the refuse level, the flame or combustible gas or smoke is introduced into the third reburning flue chamber, and so forth. With such multi-st-age guidance of smoke, it is possible to lead the flame into the flues 35 always in such a manner that the heat is not dissipated, and to make the most of the heat thus obtained in heating the reburning flue chambers 2, and to reburn the smoke passing through the flues 35 by the heat reflected by the numerous recesses 33 surrounding the flues 35, thereby to collect the exhaust gas into the smokebox 3 in a smokeless state.

The dampers 37 maybe operated selectively and suitably depending on the amount of refuse charged in the furnace and the burning condition of the charge. Combustible gas or smoke which is led through the reburning flue chambers 2 is thus burnt again until it enters the sm okebox 3 in the form of a gas substantially free from smoke. Yet it is not in a completely smokeless state. In order to accomplish perfect combustion, therefore, the

remaining unburnt gas or smoke is burnt again completely while it passes through the smokebox 3 and through a long flue pipe 4.

The smokebox 3 constitutes a compartment 31 ex-.

tending vertically and sidewise in parallel with the fur-.

nace. On the lower portion of the box, a hole 38 is provided for communication to'the smoke tube 4, which tube is thin and long, and has inner walls of fir'ebricks 7 provided with recesses 6. Midway the smoke tube 4a 7 re-combustor 41 (FIG. 5) is installed. The re-cornbustor 41 comprises a fire hole 42, a hole for cleaning 43 (FIG.

6), and a fire grate ,44. The re-cornbustor 41 is provided on one side thereofwitha flue assembled in form of a' inner wall, and each receives a coiled electric heating wire (Nichrome wire) 50 (FIG. 8) adapted for igniting and firing unburnt gas to a smokeless state, upon application of a current thereon.

The re-combustor 41 :is always charged with com bustibles, specifically chemical products or oil-impregnated refuse introduced via a duct 51 and continues burning the charge. Such a charge gives a long flame, which in' turn makes the reburning flue chamber 48 red hot. This is coupled by the heat reflected by the numerous recesses 49 of the reburning flue chamber 48 heated by the heating wire (Nichrome wire) 50, to burn the remaining gas from the smokebox all the more completely while the gas is led through the cylindrical channels 47, until the gas is freed from smoke and exhausted into the air through the Smokestack 5.

As will be understood from the foregoing description, the present invention remarkably improves the destruction efliciency because refuse can be fed in successive steps while being dried without deposition of clinkers on the fire grate nor choking of the fire grate with refuse. Furthermore, the problems of smoke and soot can be solved perfectly because combustible gas or smoke from refuse is not exhausted directly through the Smokestack but is reburnt in the course of moving toward the stack and is finally exhausted into the ambient air in a smokeless state.

What we claimed is:

1. A refuse destructor comprising a main furnace body including inner walls and provided with hemispherical recesses on the inner walls, a plurality of rotary refusereceiving pipes including fin in said furnace, said rotary pipes being spaced from one another and being angularly related to each other, means provided with, a plurality of reburning flue chambers spaced from one another and extending laterally from said main furnace body, each of said flue chambers being continued by a plurality of smaller rectangular flues, a smoke box including inner Walls provided with hemispherical recesses, said smokebox being coupled to said reburning flue chambers, a flue tube extending laterally from said smokebox and including a re-combustor, a flue section in a lattice formation, and a multiplicity of cylindrical flue channels provided With internal hemispherical recesses, and a smoke stack extending vertically from said flue tube.

2. A refuse destructor comprising a main furnace body, provided with a fire hole and an ash hole below the fire hole rotary refuse-receiving pipes in said body, said pipes including projections and being spaced from one another and arranged at angles to each other, an ash-raking spear, a carriage supporting said spear in said body in a position opposite the fire hole, a rotary ash-receiving member in said body below said fire hole, a secondary ash-receiving member adjacent the ash hole, and an ash cleaning means operatively associated with said secondary member, said main furnace body being provided with internal hemi spherical recesses, a plurality of reburning flue chambers extending laterally from said main body and spaced from one another, each of said flue chambers including a plurality of rectangular flues provided with internal hemispherical recesses, a smokebox provided with internal hemispherical recesses, a flue tube extending laterally from said smokebox and including a re-combustor, means provided with passages in a lattice formation, and a flue composed of a multiplicity of cylindrical flue channels, electric heating wire in the said channels and a Smokestack extending vertically from said flue tube.

3. A refuse destructor comprising a main furnace body, a plurality of rotary horizontal tubular refuse supports in said body and including a plurality of projections thereon, said rotary supports being spaced from one another and being arranged at angles to each other, a plurality of flue chambers spaced from one another and extending laterally from said main body, a smokebox connected with said flue chambers, and a smokestack connected to said box.

4. A refuse destructor comprising a main furnace body provided with internal hemispherical recesses, a plurality of rotary horizontal tubular refuse supports in said body and including a plurality of projections thereon, said rotary supports being spaced from one another and being arranged at angles to each other, a plurality of flue chambers spaced from one another and extending laterally from said main body, each of said flue chambers including a plurality of narrow, rectangular flues, a smokebox provided with internal hemispherical recesses and being con nected with said flue chambers, a flue tube extending laterally from said smokebox and including an auxiliary combustion chamber, a flue section in a lattice formation, and a multiplicity of cylindrical flue channels provided With internal hemispherical recesses, and a smokestack extending vertically at a right angle from said flue tube.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,284,971 11/1918 Andrews. 1,776,914 9/ 1930 Langford. 1,859,300 5/1932 Krenz. 1,995,723 4/ 1935 Van Denberg 1l08 2,091,587 8/1937 Engler 1l036 2,710,585 6/1955 Hartley -8 2,752,897 7/ 1956 Mekler. 2,906,368 9/1959 Nelson. 3,056,467 10/1962 Rauich.

FOREIGN PATENTS 544,833 7/1922 France.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner. H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A REFUSE DESTRUCTOR COMPRISING A MAIN FURNACE BODY, A PLURALITY OF ROTARY HORIZONTAL TUBULAR REFUSE SUPPORTS IN SAID BODY AND INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PROJECTIONS THEREON, SAID ROTARY SUPPORTS BEING SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER AND BEING ARRANGED AT ANGLES TO EACH OTHER, A PLURALITY OF FLUE CHAMBERS SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER AND EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM SAID MAIN BODY, A SMOKEBOX CONNECTED WITH SAID FLUE CHAMBERS, AND A SMOKESTACK CONNECTED TO SAID BOX. 